Battle for Ross Human Directions heats up as Malaysian firm increases bid in response to Jack Cowin

The battle for control of listed recruitment firm Ross Human Directions is heating up, with Malaysian bidder Peoplebank increasing its bid by more than 13% in response to suggestions that Hungry Jack’s owner Jack Cowin may launch a rival bid.

Peoplebank, which first announced back in July that it had bit 61.5c for Ross Human Directions (RHD), increased its bid to 70c yesterday, after Cowin revealed he will be conducting due diligence on RHD ahead of a potential bid.

Cowin, who is the second largest shareholder in RHD with a stake of just under 15%, quickly hit back, with RHD confirming that Cowin is prepared to make an offer higher than 70c a share following a period of due diligence.

Exactly how high Cowin would need to go remains unclear. RHD shares surged yesterday to close at 76c, and have fallen back to 74c in morning trade.

The big winners out of the takeover brawl are clearly RHD shareholders, and particularly Julia Ross, who owns about 42% of the company.

The new Peoplebank bid represents an 82% premium to the closing price of RHD on July 19, the day before the company made its original bid. The shares now trading at their highest point in three years, which means Ross’ stake is worth about $25.8 million.

Cowin’s fortune was put at $538 million on BRW’s Rich 200 in May. His empire, Competitive Foods Australia, owns the Australian rights to Hungry Jacks and KFC and also owns a major food processing business called Comgroup.

Peoplebank is owned by Malaysian private equity firm Navitas.